Uncle Someone
by RHfan
Summary: Charlotte wasn't a risk taker, and she would never risk her friendship with Henry for something that wasn't a sure thing. That's why she would never tell him that she's had a thing for him since they were 12. But perhaps she isn't the only teenager holding back feelings...rated T because of violence. Eventual Henry/Charlotte pairing.
1. Chapter 1

This was originally going to be one chapter, but it became really long, and I'm not even sure if I've finished it. So I decided to make it multiple chapters. Enjoy.

* * *

"Hey, you want to go to Yotally Togurt after school. They're unveiling a new flavor!" Henry asked his best friend Charlotte as he leaned against the locker next to hers.

"Sorry Henry, I can't." She answered as she pulled out her chemistry book.

"Well why not? You love frozen yogurt."

"While I do love frozen yogurt, I'm busy tonight."

"Oh, I just thought we could swing by before work and get some."

"I'm not coming tonight. I asked Ray earlier this week if I could have the night off."

"Oh. What's going on that you can't come?"

"Why are you being so nosy, Henry?" Charlotte glanced at him and smirked.

"I'm not trying to be nosy. I'm just interested in stuff that goes on in your life."

Charlotte closed her locker and sighed. "If you must know, nosy, someone in my english class asked me to hang out tonight."

"Oh. Well Okay, why didn't you just say that?" Henry pushed off of the locker. "Hope you girls have fun. I'll see you for work tomorrow?"

"Yes, sir. You will." She waved goodbye to her best friend.

* * *

"Hey Henry."

"Hey Ray." Henry greeted his boss as he entered the mancave. "Anything going down out there in Swellview?" He asked.

"Nope, pretty quiet. How was school?"

"Eh, it was alright. It's Friday so it is automatically better than the rest of the school days. I aced my math test, but didn't exactly do great on my history presentation."

"Why not? You're a good presenter."

"Yeah, I'm not bad at it, but it was a group project and we couldn't pick our partners so I was stuck with two people who barely wanted to do any work and unfortunately our teacher told us we all had to present a portion. So you can guess how it went."

"Well at least you did well in math." Ray shrugged.

"Yeah." Henry shrugged back. "And then today I asked Charlotte if she wanted to go to Yotally Togurt after school because they are unveiling a new flavor, and she shot me down. She said someone from her English class asked her to hang out tonight."

"Oh yeah. She asked me on Monday if she could have the night off."

Henry sighed. "I was kind of bummed. I was really looking forward to trying that new flavor."

"Well, we could go if you want." Ray suggested.

"Now? Aren't we supposed to be working?" Henry asked.

"Oh come on. There's nothing going on right now. I'll ask Schwoz to keep an eye on things and if we are needed, he'll contact us. We take the gum, watch the time, we should be back in an hour." Ray started to put on his shoes. "Hey Schwoz!"

"What is it?" Schwoz asked as he came into the room. "I am trying to fix this device that you broke last week."

"For the millionth time, I didn't mean to break it. I am sorry." Ray apologized. "Can you keep an eye out for anything unusual so Henry and I can go get some frozen yogurt?"

"Hmm…I suppose so. On one condition."

"What is it Schwoz?"

"Bring me back some frozen yogurt. Birthday cake flavor. With sprinkles. But not the blue sprinkles. I don't like those. Actually I don't really care for the green sprinkles either, but if some of them sneak in there I'm not going to complain about it."

"Um, sure. I suppose we can do that." Henry agreed. "Thanks Schwoz. Come on Ray."

As they walked to the tubes, Ray leaned over to Henry. "I can't believe you agreed to his demands, do you know how hard it's going to be to pick out those blue sprinkles, and some of the green?"

* * *

"Gee, this place seems pretty busy." Ray acknowledged.

"Yeah, I guess everyone's excited about new fro-yo"

"Well maybe you should go get a table and I'll get in line for the yogurt, otherwise we may not have a seat. What do you want on yours?"

"M&M's and whipped cream. Thanks Ray."

Henry walked into the seating area. It was extremely busy tonight. Usually you had no problem getting a table, but it seemed like everyone in town was there. He saw someone getting up from a table and marched over. "Hey, are you guys leaving? Mind if I steal the table?"

After wiping some sprinkles off of the top of the table, Henry sat down, pulled out his phone, and waited for Ray to arrive with the yogurt. Looking around the room he saw a few people he knew from school and waved. And then further down the room, he saw her. Charlotte. She was seated alone at a table in the corner. Henry noticed however that there were two yogurt cups on the table, and realized the other one must belong to her friend from English. Perhaps she was in the bathroom.

Henry smiled in the direction of his best friend. She hadn't seen him, probably because of the amount of people in the building. Henry pulled up his phone to text her, but just as he was about to type he saw him. A guy from their school was sitting down next to Charlotte. He belonged to the other yogurt on the table. Was Charlotte on a date? She didn't tell him she had a date. When she said a friend from class asked her to hang out, he assumed it was a girl. He had even said as much to her, and she hadn't corrected him. Did she not want him to know?

"Okay. We've got an M&Ms and whipped cream for you, and brownies and strawberries for me. I know that sounds kind of girlie and all, but I like what I like." Ray sat down and noticed his sidekick wasn't paying any attention to him. "Henry. You alright?"

"Hmm?" Henry looked at his boss. "Yeah. Of course. Thanks Ray." He took the yogurt from Ray and started to eat it, scrolling through his phone.

Ray discreetly looked back behind him at what Henry was looking at before he sat down. He saw Charlotte and some boy on the other side of the room, sitting at a table together and eating their yogurt. They were laughing at something and were sitting a little closer to each other than friends usually do. Ray realized it may have been a date. He turned his head back around to see his friend still immersed in his phone.

"This is some good fro-yo. Good idea Henry."

"Yeah. Pretty good." Henry sighed.

"You were so excited about it earlier. What's wrong?" Ray asked as he took another bite.

"Oh, no. Nothing. Just saw one of those sad animal abuse stories online, that's all. You know how those are." Henry picked up the yogurt again and began eating.

"Oh yeah. They really know how to get you with those." Ray agreed.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes until Ray decided to say something. "So, did you see Charlotte sitting over there? I guess this was where her and her friend were hanging out tonight."

"Hmm?" Henry shrugged. "I didn't really notice."

"Okay. If you say so." Ray finished his yogurt. "I guess I had better get in line to get Schwoz his yogurt before we go. Wish me luck that there aren't too many blue sprinkles to pick out."

"Good luck" Henry called out as Ray left the table. Turning back to his yogurt, he noticed that Charlotte and her 'date' were getting ready to leave. Henry realized that unfortunately he had been forced to choose this table that was right by the exit. There was literally no way to exit without passing this table. He tried as hard as he could to appear busy with his phone. Maybe if he didn't look up, she wouldn't notice he was sitting there.

"Oh, hey, Henry." Charlotte stopped before she exited and acknowledged him.

"Oh, hey. Charlotte. I'm just here with Ray. Getting some frozen yogurt."

"Yeah. Frozen yogurt. It was pretty good huh?"

"Yeah. It was."

"Henry, do you know Kyle?" Charlotte introduced the boy to her best friend.

"I think we had a class together last year, right?" Henry said to the boy.

"That's right. Economics with Mr. Riggs. I remember." Kyle reached his hand out to Henry. "Good to see you again man."

"Yeah." Henry shook the hand that had been extended to him. "You too."

"Well we were just heading out. I'll see you tomorrow Henry." Charlotte reached up to slightly tug on Kyle's arm.

"Bye." Henry watched as they walked out of the frozen yogurt shop. He wondered why she wouldn't have told him about her date. They were best friends, shouldn't she be comfortable talking about this stuff with him. Maybe it was because he was a boy and not a girl. But he talked to her about his girlfriends. So…maybe it wasn't a date.

"Okay. I got the yogurt for Schwoz. Better get it back to the man cave before it melts." Ray approached the table. "I tried to go say hey to Charlotte but she wasn't there. Did she leave already?"

"Yeah. They left." Henry stood up to follow his boss out of the store.

"Did you talk to her?"

"Just as they were leaving, we said hello."

"Well did you find out who that guy was she was with?" Ray asked.

"That's 'Kyle'…"

"Well I don't know who 'Kyle' is, but based on the way you said his name, I'm not sure if I should like him or not." Ray chuckled.

"No. He's not a bad guy or anything. He was in a class of mine last year. I remember him being pretty smart and a nice guy."

"So what's the problem?"

Henry sighed. "It's just a bit weird. Charlotte was on a date. I didn't know about it, and I'm her best friend."

"Maybe it wasn't a date. They could have been out as friends."

"He shook my hand."

"What?" Ray questioned.

"Before they left. Charlotte introduced us, and he shook my hand. If they were just friends, he would have just said 'oh hey man how's it going?', but instead he shook my hand as if to say 'I know you're Charlotte's best friend and I'm trying to make a good impression.'"

"I see."

"So yeah. They're dating."

Ray laughed. "Okay, they've been on one date, I wouldn't call that dating."

"We don't know that this is the first date they've been on. Maybe she's secretly been dating Kyle behind my back." Henry threw his arms out in frustration.

"You make it sound as if she's cheating on you." Ray stopped walking and in turn Henry stopped beside him. "Henry, are you jealous?"

"What? Why would I be jealous?"

Ray shrugged.

Henry put his hands in his pockets. "Something just doesn't feel right about it, is all."

"You mean something not right about Kyle?"

"Not with Kyle. He's fine. I suppose I just never really thought about Charlotte dating. We've been best friends for so long, and I wasn't prepared for this."

Ray took out his key to Junk N Stuff and unlocked the door to the shop. "Are you upset that you have to share her now?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I just don't understand why I feel so upset."

"Sorry you're having a tough night kid."

"Can I go home? I'm not really in the mood to come down to the man cave." Henry asked his boss.

"Yeah kid. I'll ring you if I need you." Ray placed his hand on Henry's shoulder. "And Henry, if you decide that you feel this way because you are in love with Charlotte, that's okay."

Henry's jaw dropped as Ray shut the door in his face. 'In love with Charlotte'. Was that what it was? Did seeing her on a date make him upset because he wanted to be the one on a date with her? Couldn't be right? He was just upset because he used to be the number one guy in her life, and now that spot was being challenged. That's all it was. He had never really thought about he and Charlotte being any more than friends. But whenever he thought about major things in his life, he always pictured sharing them with Charlotte. Maybe he hadn't realized it until now, but he never wanted to lose her. Henry cared about her more than anything in the world. She was the best thing in his life. How could he not have seen it before?

* * *

Walking home, Henry took the back way, and made a stop at Charlotte's house. Ringing her doorbell and standing on her front porch, he felt more awkward than ever. Now that he realized that he sort of had feelings for her, things would be different. But he needed to see her.

"Hey Hen." Charlotte said as she opened the door. "What are you doing here?" She leaned against the doorframe.

"I was just walking home from work, and thought I would stop by."

"My house isn't on your way home."

Henry cleared his throat. "I decided to take the long way home. It was a nice night for a walk, and I remembered your parents were out of town so I decided I should come check on you."

"Thanks, that's nice of you, but I'm alright. I have Spock to keep me protected."

"Spock isn't much of a watchdog." Henry laughed. Spock was Charlotte's family dog. He was a 13 year old Papillion who barely weighed 5 pounds. They named him Spock because of the ears. All he ever did was sleep anymore and he could barely nip at people's ankles he was so small. "If you want, I can come in for a while and keep you company."

"I don't really think that's a great idea." Charlotte counteracted.

"Why not? Wouldn't you feel safer having Kid Danger around?"

"I would be a bit quieter on the Kid Danger stuff." Charlotte whispered.

Henry sighed. "Kyle's here isn't he?"

Charlotte nodded her head.

"Char, why would you bring him back to your house? Your parents aren't home." Henry asked.

"Well I'm not going to bring him back here when they are." She chuckled.

"What does that mean? Are you guys like, doing 'stuff'?" Henry groaned.

"Oh my god, no! That's not what I meant. I just mean that my parents aren't exactly the easiest people to introduce a guy to. You know how they are. They want me to focus on school and goals. I could barely get them to agree to let me have a job at Junk N Stuff. I just thought that it would be better if they didn't meet Kyle right away. All we are doing is watching a movie on the couch. That's it." Charlotte folded her arms together. "I can't believe you asked me if we were doing 'stuff'! What kind of girl do you think I am?"

"I didn't mean it to come out that way. I just meant that you guys are in this house alone. No parents to come in the room. I'm a boy, I know how they think. I don't want him to pressure you into anything."

"Henry. This was our first date. At least our first official date outside of talking online. I'm not going to give him my virginity tonight or anything."

"Okay, now we need to stop talking about this." Henry suggested.

"Hey, I listen to you talk about all of the girls you date."

"I know. Thank you for that by the way. Please be careful tonight. You know where to find me if you need me okay?"

"Of course." She reached out to hug her best friend. "Thanks for being so cool about this, Henry."

He hugged her back, adding a bit more pressure to the hug than usual, and sighed. "Of course."

* * *

I decided to stop it here for now. Let me know what you think of the start.


	2. Chapter 2

The next installment of Uncle Someone is here! It's probably a bit shorter than the last, or if it isn't it sure feels that way, but the end seemed like a good stopping place until next time. Enjoy it!

* * *

A few weeks later, Henry and Charlotte were walking from school to work and talking about their weekend plans.

"Ray said we could have the weekend off, so I was thinking of heading out to the amusement park in Baytown. You, me, and Jasper. But since most rides are double seats, I figured you should invite Kyle to come too." Henry had been trying to take the high road for the past few weeks. Although he wasn't happy with Charlotte's current situation, having a boyfriend, he was going to be nice about it. After all, he cared about her and just wanted to see that she was happy.

"Oh, I don't think so." Charlotte sighed. "I broke up with him today."

"You did!" Henry cleared his throat. "Um, I mean, you did? Why? He didn't try to move too quick huh? I told you to be careful."

Charlotte giggled. "No, nothing like that. He was a perfect gentleman. I never even kissed him. He's a great guy, but just not my type I suppose. I told him I just wasn't feeling any spark and thought it was best if we parted ways now instead of later. He was okay with it."

"Well I'm sorry it didn't work out." Henry side hugged her.

"No you're not."

Henry gasped. "What? Of course I am."

"Henry, you have been secretly hoping this relationship would fail from the beginning. I know you, and I could tell by the way you were acting."

"I was nothing but nice to Kyle."

"I know that, and I appreciate it, but while you were being nice I could tell you secretly hated it." She sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't always have time to hang out with you. I know that's what made you upset. I promise the next boyfriend I have I will try to make sure we spend plenty of time together, just the two of us."

"Not having time for me. Yeah, that's why I was upset. You're right." Henry nodded. "So if Kyle wasn't your type of guy, who is?"

"I don't know really. I guess one day I will just know who that is."

* * *

"Hey, Charlotte. Did you see this new video online about the dog and the duck? They are best friends, doing all sorts of best friend things. Look!"

Charlotte saw Jasper thrust his cell phone at her, and saw a video of a dog and a duck laying outside by a pond taking a nap. "Cute."

"That wasn't as enthusiastic of a 'cute' as you should have done for this dog and duck. What's up?" He leaned on the locker next to hers as she put a few books away.

"Nothing really. Just getting ready for chemistry."

Jasper sighed. "Listen, Henry told me about you breaking up with Kyle. I'm sorry about that. Wish things would have worked out for you guys."

"It's okay. I'm not really that broken up about it."

"Well then what's wrong?" Jasper asked as he put away his phone.

"To be honest, I broke up with Kyle because I wasn't able to put my all into that relationship. That's not fair to me or to Kyle. I wish I could, but I want to be with someone who I can picture myself still with in 5 years, and although Kyle's a nice guy, he just doesn't fit that description."

Jasper nodded. "I see. Is it because you're in love with Henry?"

Charlottes jaw dropped and she slammed her locker shut. "I'm sorry, what?!"

"Oh come on Charlotte. I'm best friends with you guys. I see a lot of stuff."

"What do you see exactly?" Charlotte crossed her arms.

"I just see the exchanges between you two, and the looks. I can tell you like Henry."

"Well you had better get your eyes checked, because I don't."

"It's okay, Char. I'm not going to say anything. I've noticed this a while ago and I've gone this long without saying anything."

"Jasper!" Charlotte grabbed his arm and pulled him over to a secluded bench in the hallway. They sat down and she let go of his arm. Wringing her hands together she slowly looked up at her friend. "You have to promise me that Henry will never find out."

"So you DO like him!" Jasper shouted.

"Shhhh!" Charlotte quickly looked around to see if anyone had heard. "Keep it down will you? I don't want anyone to know. Not a single soul."

"Why?"

"Because, if word got around to Henry things would get really weird between us. We go to school together, we work together, we are best friends. I don't want any of that to change and if he finds out that I like him as more than a friend everything good in my life goes away."

"What if he likes you too?" Jasper asked her.

"He doesn't." Charlotte said adamantly.

"You don't know that. Did you ask him? Has he ever said, 'Charlotte I'm not interested in you as anything more than my friend.'"

"Well no, he hasn't said it out loud like that, but I can tell. He only sees me as his best friend."

"I wouldn't be so sure. He could surprise you." Jasper put his hand on her shoulder.

"Jasper. How many girlfriends has Henry had in the last few years?" She questioned.

"Um, I'm not sure. A decent amount I suppose."

"Yeah. If he was interested in me, why would he go out with all of these other girls?"

"Maybe if he knew you were interested in him, he wouldn't date these other girls."

"I've been interested in him since 7th grade, Jasper. We are juniors in high school now. It's been almost 5 years and I have hid these feelings as best I could so that Henry would never find out. If I saw any hint that he was interested I would have taken that chance, but he hasn't given me any idea that he was into me, so I let him keep dating these girls and talking to me about them because if I can't have him as my boyfriend, then I at least want to keep him as my best friend. Please just leave things be and don't tell him."

"But I want you guys to be happy." Jasper sighed.

"Then you will keep this to yourself. Promise me." Charlotte stuck her hand out towards him and raised her pinky finger.

Jasper groaned but eventually hooked his pinky with hers. "Fine. I'll keep this to myself."

"Thank you."

"Now will you watch my dog and duck video?" He pouted.

Charlotte chuckled. "I guess I do owe you one."

* * *

A few weeks had passed and Jasper had kept his promise to Charlotte. He hadn't told anyone about her crush on Henry. Not anyone in his family, not anyone at school, and not anyone at work. Charlotte was proud of him.

Henry had decided that weekend to have a game night at his house with them. He and Jasper had been hanging out all day and they told Charlotte to meet at Henry's house around 7.

"I swear, if I have to hear Piper tell me about middle school gossip one more time this week, I might hit myself over the head with a rock." Jasper complained as the two boys entered Henry's house.

"Well that's what you get for hanging out with a 13 year old." Henry argued.

"Almost 14!"

"I'm sorry. That's what you get for hanging out with an almost 14 year old."

"Piper's not that bad when she's by herself. She just gets all worked up about what her friends think and stuff that she goes a bit overboard on the gossip."

"Typical middle school girl." Henry grabbed a glass from the cabinet for some juice. "Juice?" He asked his friend.

"Sure, thanks."

"You know, thank goodness that Charlotte wasn't like that in middle school." Henry said as he poured two glasses for him and his friend. "I don't know what we would have done if that were the case. You think we would have stayed friends?"

"I don't know. I've never really thought about it. Charlotte's never been like that."

"That's why she's so cool, you know."

"Yeah Charlotte is really cool." Jasper agreed. Henry handed Jasper his juice and picked up his to take a drink.

"It's almost 7. She should be here any minute." Henry said as he went to the closet to pick out the first game of the night. "Oh hey Jasper, I forgot to tell you guys I had invited someone else over tonight for game night."

"Oh yeah? Who?" Jasper asked.

"Actually it's someone I met through that new teen dating app 'Teen Tinder'. She goes to the Catholic school in town."

"Oh, a girl?"

Henry put the game down on the coffee table. "Yes, a girl. Her name is Shelby. She's 16, and really cute."

Henry wasn't really looking for a relationship. He was still reeling from his realization that he had a thing for his best friend. However, he realized that he probably wasn't going to be able to act on those feelings, unless he wanted things in his life to change. He didn't want to lose Charlotte, so Henry decided that the only way to get over his feelings for her would be to try to move on with other girls. Maybe he really would be into one of them enough that he could forget about his feelings for Charlotte. So he was scrolling through the dating app one night and came across Shelby. She seemed like the perfect girl to move on with, so he invited her to game night.

"Charlotte texted me." Jasper looked at his phone. "She said she's just down the street."

"Tell her to just come in. The door's open." Henry responded.

"Did you tell her about this girl coming tonight?" Jasper asked.

"No. I haven't talked to her since I asked Shelby to come. Why?"

"Just wondering." Jasper put his cup on the table in front of him and took a seat.

The front door opened and Charlotte walked inside. "Hey guys."

Henry raised his hand a bit to wave. "Hey Char."

Jasper smiled at her. "Charlotte, come sit next to me."

Charlotte looked at Jasper questioningly. "Um, okay."

"I'm going to go get some popcorn going. If Shelby rings the doorbell, I will get it okay? Don't move." Henry left the living room to the kitchen.

Charlotte watched him go to the room that was just connected to the living room and because of that she kept her voice low. Turning to Jasper she asked, "Who's Shelby?"

"Well, Henry invited a girl here." Jasper answered. "He just told me before you came in. He met her on that new teen dating app 'Teen Tinder'. Apparently she goes to the Catholic school. If I would have known about it I would have told you beforehand so you could have made up some excuse not to come."

"I'm not going to make up some excuse not to hang out with my friends just because Henry invited some girl to come over. I've been hanging out with Henry and his girlfriends for years. I can handle it."

"I know, I just…didn't want you to be blindsided is all. I feel bad about it. Having to watch Henry be with this girl all night and knowing that you like him. I'm not going to feel great seeing it."

"Well that's sweet Jasper, but that's just the way it has to be. I'll be fine."

Just then the doorbell rang. "I've got it, I've got it!" Henry shouted as he ran from the kitchen to the door.

Charlotte chuckled at Henry's gallop. "I guess I'll get the popcorn out of the microwave." She got up from her seat to head into the kitchen.

Henry opened the front door to reveal his date. A 16 year old brunette named Shelby. Henry thought she was cute and looked just like her picture, which was an accomplishment when you pick a date off of a dating app. Everyone lied on those things nowadays.

"Hi, Shelby. Come on in." Henry invited the girl inside.

"Thanks Henry. Nice to finally meet you in person." She said as she walked through the door and took off her shoes.

"I would like you to meet my friends. This is Jasper." Henry introduced the two as he brought her to sit on the couch.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Jasper produced his hand for her to shake. Henry thought of the time when Kyle shook his hand at Yotally Togurt. 'see, people do shake hands when they are meeting someone's date.' He thought when he remembered Ray's comment about them being only friends.

"Nice to meet you too." Shelby smiled.

Charlotte came back into the living room and set the popcorn on the coffee table.

"And this is Charlotte." Henry looked towards his female best friend to see a smile on her face. "Charlotte this is Shelby."

"Hello. Good to meet you." Charlotte waved at the girl but did not shake her hand. Maybe it was just a guy thing.

"Likewise. Henry has told me a lot about you guys."

"Well, Shelby. Take a seat. I thought we would start with Apples to Apples. One of my favorites." Henry opened the box and started pulling out the cards.

"I love that game. Haven't played in so long though."

"So Shelby." Charlotte acknowledged the brunette. "Tell us a little bit about yourself." Jasper looked towards his friend and gave her a questioning looked. Charlotte brushed it off.

"Well, where do I start?" Shelby began as the cards were being dealt by Henry. "I'm a junior at St. Mary Catholic School on the other side of town. I've gone to Catholic school my whole life, so I don't really know anyone else in the town outside of there. I have a younger brother, Jason. A cat, Theodore. I have an uncle who lives in my basement. I have a part time job at a deli on my side of town after school. Besides that, I like to do yoga, and paint."

"Hm. That sounds pretty…normal." Jasper acknowledged.

"Not that we would think you were anything but normal!" Henry quickly stated. He gave Jasper a small glare.

"Okay. Everyone have their cards? Lets go." Charlotte said as she took the first turn.

Two and a half hours later and the night was winding down. They had stuck to Apples to Apples the whole night because all of them seemed to be enjoying the game. If it's not broke, don't fix it. But now it was nearing 10pm and he knew he should let Shelby get home as well as Jasper and Charlotte.

"Okay guys, I'm going to call it a night." Henry said as he started picking up the cups on the table.

"I texted my uncle a while ago to come pick me up, and he should be here any minute." Shelby told him. Then next thing they knew, they saw car headlights outside. "That's probably him now. Thanks for the fun night guys. Henry, we should do this again sometime. And maybe we can go catch a movie or something, just the two of us."

"Oh yeah. Sure. I would like that very much."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later." She said as she opened the door to leave. "Bye guys, nice to meet you." Shelby called back to Henry's friends.

"Well Charlotte, we had better get going too. I'll walk you home." Jasper stood up from the couch. It was pretty common for the two to walk home from Henry's house together since hers was on the way to his. It made them all feel better to not let Charlotte walk alone.

"Okay. I'm coming. Bye Hen, thanks for the fun night."

Closing the front door behind them, Jasper turned to Charlotte. "So what did you think of Shelby?"

"She was actually a pretty normal, nice, decent girl."

"Come on Charlotte, you can tell me that you hate her guts and that you want to smash her to the ground." Jasper said as the two started walking down the street.

"Not sure you know this about me Jasper, but I'm not really a violent person. And even if I was, I don't think I would physically be able to smash her to the ground. I'm pretty small."

"Well you don't have to like her, that's all I'm saying."

"I don't want to like her, but I actually do." Charlotte sighed.

* * *

Ugh, another girl for Henry. Why does he have so many girlfriends? Well guys, until next time...review if you have the time please!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys, hope you enjoy this chapter. I didn't really have much time to proof read it, so hopefully there aren't any big issues here. Let me if there is something I need to fix. Happy reading!

* * *

"If I have to choose, I'm going with Book 4. The tri-wizard tournament just can't be topped for me." Henry said as the three friends walked down the halls of school one day. They had been discussing the different books of Harry Potter as there had been a marathon of the movies the previous weekend on tv.

"No way, book 5." Charlotte retorted. "The ministry of magic was just so intense."

"But Sirius dies."

"Well yeah, but just because he dies doesn't mean the book wasn't good. It's a turning point for Harry. He has to find the strength to continue even though he realizes he is going to lose people along the way."

"Most people would say book 5 is their least favorite." Jasper piped in.

"I'm not most people then." Charlotte smacked him on the shoulder. "What's your favorite book then?"

"Hmm…" Jasper thought. "Book 6."

"Half Blood Prince? Why?"

"Oh I don't know." Jasper smiled. "Probably because Ron and Hermione are my favorite couple in the series, and there are a lot of little moments in that book between the two of them."

Henry scoffed. "Ron and Hermione are your favorite couple? I didn't know you were so into the characters that much."

"Well you know, I guess I just like the fact that they are best friends." He looks between Henry and Charlotte. "They've known each other for so long. Always liked the other, but never really knew the other one liked them."

Charlotte's eyes got wide.

Henry chuckled. "Okay, Jasper. We need to get you a girlfriend. So you can have a real romance story instead of being obsessed with one from a book.

The three started walking towards the east wing of the school. They all had chemistry together next. "Speaking of romance." Henry said as he pointed towards the wall. There was a poster hanging next to the water fountain for the upcoming spring fling dance. "Student council finally put together a dance this year."

"I'm surprised they were able to convince the principal after last year's stink bomb fiasco." Charlotte reminded them.

"Did they ever find out who was responsible for those?" Jasper questioned.

"I don't think so. Probably some freshman without dates who were trying to be cool." Henry leaned against the poster. "So…Charlotte. You want to go?"

"What?"

"To the dance." Henry stated. "With me." Henry didn't know what possessed him to ask her to the dance, but when he saw her face change from shock to fear to something he couldn't quite distinguish, he backtracked. "I mean, you and me, going to the dance together…as friends! You need a date, but no one said your date can't be a friend."

"Um…" Charlotte stalled. "Actually I can't go with you."

"Oh. Okay then." Henry rubbed his neck with his hand in his discomfort.

"Jasper and I already said we would go together."

Jasper looked at her. "We did?"

She looked back at him and her eyes were wide and she nodded. "Yeah, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Um, right. We did." Jasper said. He turned to Henry. "Charlotte and I said we would go together. As friends!" He made sure to emphasize the friends part.

"Alright. Well I'll just take someone else then. Maybe I'll call Shelby, ask her." Henry said as he pushed off of the wall. "I'm going to hit the restroom before Chem. See you guys in class."

Jasper and Charlotte watched as Henry walked into the men's restroom. Jasper turned to his friend. "What was that about? Why did you say we had agreed to go to the dance together?"

"I'm sorry." She apologized. "I panicked."

"Why? He asked you to the dance. You should have said yes."

"I can't go to the dance with Henry. Especially as friends. It will be too much like a date, but not a date." Charlotte sighed. "And the whole time I'll be wishing it was a date!"

"So your answer is to rope me into this mess?"

"Jasper. Come on, just go with it. Were you planning on taking someone else to the dance?" She asked.

"Well no."

"Then please, for me?" She begged.

"Okay. I'll go with you to the dance." Jasper folded his arms across his chest. "But you had better pick me up at seven and not a minute later. I don't like to be kept waiting."

Charlotte chuckled at her friend. "I'll even bring you flowers."

* * *

Tonight was the dance. The school hadn't thrown one in a while and most everyone was going. Henry had wanted to go with Charlotte, even if it was just as friends. He would hope that he would have the courage to see if he could make it something more during their night, but he would have been just as happy to be her date so that no one else could be. Henry supposed that Jasper being her date was the next best thing. At least he knew his friend wasn't interested in her in a romantic sense.

They had been running a bit late that evening, seeing as he had to go across town to pick up Shelby. But they still made it to the dance at a decent time. Walking into the school, he saw a bunch of people hanging out in the front lobby, probably because the gym always got a bit hot. He looked around for his two friends but didn't see them.

"So this is your school, huh?" Shelby asked. "It looks really nice. I like the purple."

"Yep, this is it. Where I come every day to learn." Henry walked her into the gym. "Jasper texted me and said he saved us two seats at table 3. Let's go find them."

From across the gym, he spotted Jasper at the drink table. He hadn't seen him or Charlotte since he and Shelby walked into the school. He walked Shelby to their table and told her he would bring her back a drink.

"Hey, I've been looking for you guys. Where's Charlotte?" Henry asked as he approached his friend.

Jasper looked up at the blonde boy. "Oh, she's talking to some of her girlfriends from AP English over there." They both looked a ways over and saw their friend talking to two girls they recognized. Charlotte was laughing at something one of them said to her.

"How long have you been here? Sorry we're a bit late." Henry apologized.

"Oh that's cool, we haven't been here long. Maybe 20 minutes. You know Charlotte likes to be on time for things."

Henry chuckled. "Yeah, that's her alright." Henry poured himself two drinks from the punch bowl. "So any hot gossip going down yet?"

"Well so far Jenny Jacobson and Grant Kohler have broken up and gotten back together since the dance started." Jasper informed him.

"Jeez."

"And then Carter Nesbit busted a move during one of the first songs, and twisted his ankle."

"Poor guy…" Henry shrugged. Carter wasn't the most coordinated guy in their year.

"So where's Shelby?" Jasper asked.

"Oh she's sitting at the table. I told her I would bring back some drinks." Henry grabbed the drinks off the table. "You should grab Char and come say hey."

"Yeah, we'll be over in a minute."

30 minutes pass and the dance is in full swing. The four were sitting at their table after dancing for a while. The door prizes had already been announced and the principal had already given his usual "keep it clean and appropriate" speech.

"So you guys having fun?" Jasper asked the rest of the table.

"Of course. I appreciate you inviting me Henry." Shelby put her hand on his shoulder.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you're having a good time." Henry smiled back at the girl.

Charlotte sighed. "I'm getting kind of tired. I knew I shouldn't have worn these shoes."

"Girl I know! Aren't heels the worst?" Shelby agreed. "I've already took mine off and retired from dancing anymore tonight. Thank goodness I don't wear them often. Perks of being tall I suppose."

"Wish I knew how that felt…" Charlotte looked away from the table.

At this moment the songs changed from fast to slow. The group hadn't been slow dancing tonight. Jasper and Charlotte were here as friends, and Henry had cleverly been avoiding Shelby whenever he knew a slow song was due to arrive. He turned towards Charlotte. He knew this song was one of his best friends favorites.

"You want to dance?" Henry asked.

Charlotte looked around. "Who, me?"

"Yes, you, silly." He looked at Jasper and Shelby. "You guys don't mind us ditching for a song huh?"

They shook their heads no so Henry got up from the table and held his hand out for Charlotte. "Come on. I know your feet hurt, but it will be worth it."

Jasper turned to Charlotte and gave her a knowing look. As the blonde and the curly haired girl left the table he turned to Shelby. "Come on Shelby, let's go get some snacks from the dessert table."

"I'm hoping for something chocolate. I've got a serious sweet tooth." She followed him across the gym.

Henry and Charlotte had made their way to the middle of the dance floor and the two had started dancing to the song being played over the loudspeakers. Henry had been a bit nervous, and was surprised that he had the nerve to ask her to dance.

"So…" Henry started. "How's your night been?"

"Good." She answered. "How's yours?"

"Great. Just great." He said awkwardly back to her. "How are your feet? If you want, you can take off your shoes."

She giggled. "It's okay. I can deal. I need them otherwise I'll be too short to dance with you."

"You know Char, there's nothing wrong with being short."

"I know. It's just kind of upsetting when you see girls who are at least average height or who are tall, and you realize they look way better standing next to their boyfriends, and you know that they probably never have to climb on the kitchen counter to get a glass out of the cabinet. Life is hard down here."

He smirked at her. "Well if it means anything, I like that you aren't tall. You're perfect just the way you are."

"You're being awfully sweet tonight. What do you want?" She asked.

"Why do you think I want something?"

"I just know you."

"All I want Char, is to dance with you tonight like this." He pulled her a bit closer to him. "Is that too much to ask?"

"I guess not." She sighed. "What about Shelby though? She's your date. Don't you think she might be a bit upset about this?"

"Eh, I'm not sure I'm really that into her. She's a nice girl, but not for me. I get the feeling from her that she feels the same about me. I'd love to be friends but I don't think we will be anything more."

"I'm sorry it's not going to work out for you." She frowned at him.

"It's alright. I'm not that upset. I actually kind of have a thing for someone else."

"Oh my word! You waste no time do you?" Charlotte chastised him.

"No no! It's not like that." She had pulled away from him a bit and he pulled her back in. Henry didn't know what had possessed him to say what he was about to but he realized there was no going back. "It's actually someone I've had a crush on for awhile, I just didn't realize it until recently."

"Someone you know from school?" She asked.

"Well sort of. I've know her pretty much forever. She knows nearly everything about me. She's been the best friend a guy could ask for, and I'm hoping that after tonight, she'll become more than my best friend."

Charlotte pulled away a bit from the boy holding onto her and looked into his eyes. Usually his eyes were playful, but this time they were more serious than she had ever seen. "Henry…I…" She shook her head. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"You don't have to say anything right now. Just know that…"

Beep…Beep…Beep.

The two looked down at Henry's wrist and saw his watch light up. Ray was calling.

"You'd better answer that." Charlotte acknowledged the watch. "It could be important."

"Uh, yeah. I'll go outside and answer it." He put his hands on her shoulders. "Stay here okay. I'll be right back. Don't move."

Walking outside he went around the dumpster to block his view of anyone who might wander out after him. He opened the watch.

"Hey Ray. What's going on?"

"Oh hey Henry! Just wanted to see how the dance was."

Henry shook his head at his boss. "Are you for real right now? You called me to see how the dance was? Why couldn't you have just asked me tomorrow when you saw me at work?!"

"Jeez sue me for being curious at how your night was. What crawled up your pant leg?"

"I'm sorry okay? This was just some bad timing."

"Did I interrupt a moment between you and Shelby?" Ray asked.

"No. Me and Charlotte."

"What?!"

Henry sighed. "Yeah. I asked her to dance, and apparently I thought it was a good idea to throw it out there that I had feelings for her."

"Wow Henry. I'm proud of you." Ray smiled at his sidekick. "And I'm sorry I interrupted."

"No it's okay. It's probably for the best. You stopped me before I said anything too crazy and scared her off. I think I've only mildly freaked her out."

"Well, I'll let you go so you can go back in there and continue with what you were doing, You'll let me know how things go so that when you guys come to work tomorrow I'll know whether or not to scream excitedly?" Ray asked.

Henry chuckled at his boss. "Yes, Ray. I'll let you know whether or not you can scream excitedly."

After talking to his boss, Henry went back inside the school. He checked his hair in the reflection of the display case in the hall before walking into the gym. He searched the floor for Charlotte. She wasn't where he left her and he figured she was back at the table sitting down. She did say her feet were hurting her. But upon arrival at the table, he only came upon Shelby.

"Hey. Where's Jasper and Charlotte?" He asked her as he sat down.

"Oh they went home." She answered.

He frowned in response. "Home? But the dance isn't over."

Shelby shrugged. "Well it is getting kind of late. I bet they were getting tired. Or maybe they wanted some alone time."

"Huh?"

"Well aren't they dating?"

"No! They are just friends." Henry stated.

"Oh, I thought we were kind of on a double date at your house that one night. And then tonight they were here together…"

"As friends!" Henry reiterated.

"Okay! I believe you." Shelby raised her hands up in defense. "Listen, speaking of leaving I have to get going too. I got a text awhile ago from my uncle. Something about needing to come home. I hope you don't mind me skipping out, but he's waiting for me outside."

"Oh, that's alright. Let me at least walk you out." Henry started to stand up.

"No, that's okay! Don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure I can find the way. You stay, it's your dance. Have a good time."

"If you're sure."

"Of course I am. I'll talk to you later Henry."

He waved as she left the gym. He was just reminded that he was going to have to call her later and explain to her that he wasn't wanting anything more than friendship from her. He figured she felt the same way but wanted to make sure they were on the same page. That way, he would be able to start a relationship with Charlotte. That is, if she wanted to. Why would she leave after he told her he would be right back. He had left the conversation pretty unfinished, she wouldn't just leave…or would she. Was she scared of what he said? Is that why she left? Had he just ruined not only his chance of dating her but also their friendship?

"Aw man." He chugged his glass of punch that he had left on the table a while ago. "Ugh, warm."

He spent a few minutes sitting at the table, waving and saying hey to the few people in his classes as they walked by, before he decided to get up. He was going to quickly hit the men's room and then just call it a night. He walked out into the hallway and started to unbutton his button down shirt. It was way too hot in that gym.

Just before he pushed the door to the mens room open, he stopped. He listened close and heard someone banging on the door next to the restroom which happened to be a supply closet. "What in the world?" He pulled the closet door open and inside he saw a familiar face. "Jasper?!"

His friend had been tied up with rope and duck tape had been placed over his mouth. Henry quickly rushed forward to help him.

"What on earth happened? Who did this to you?" Henry quickly asked.

"It was Shelby!" Jasper choked on air.

"Huh? I don't understand. I went outside to take a call from Ray and when I came back she said you and Charlotte had gone home."

Jasper thanked his friend as he untied the rope from him. "While you danced with Charlotte, Shelby asked me to give her a tour of the school. Then she tied me up and duck taped my mouth and stuck me in this closet."

"Shelby did this? I know you aren't the strongest buddy, but you really couldn't have fought off a girl?"

"She had help."

"Who?" Henry asked.

"You remember she said she had an uncle, who lived in her basement?"

"Yeah."

"It's Jeff."

"Jeff? As in Jeff?"

"Yes Henry. That Jeff." Jasper got up and rubbed his wrists where the rope had been. "I overheard Shelby and him talking. He's working for Drex."

"Oh god. She's known who I was the whole time. How?" Henry questioned.

"I'm not sure." He shook his head.

"Oh god. Charlotte!" Henry panicked. He took Jasper's phone from his pocket and dialed her number.

"What are you doing?" Jasper asked.

"I'm calling Charlotte. I had to leave our dance to go outside to answer the call from Ray. I told her to stay there and I would be right back, but when I returned to the gym she was gone. I thought she had gone home like Shelby said but now I'm not so sure. So if she answers, she's safe." Henry tapped his foot in his anxiousness.

"Okay but why do you need to call her from my phone?"

"I might have told Charlotte that I had feelings for her during our dance tonight and I don't know how she took it, so I don't want that to influence whether or not she picks up. I need her to think it's you who's calling."

Jasper tilted his head. "You told Charlotte you had feelings for her?"

Henry shrugged. "Well…sort of, kind of…maybe. Yes."

Jasper chuckled. "I knew it."

Henry huffed. "Okay I've called her twice and she's not answering. We have to go. We have to get to the man cave."

"You think they kidnapped her?"

"I never should have left her alone in that gym."

"Henry, we didn't know that Shelby was going to do this. Don't blame yourself." He put his hand on Henry's shoulder. "Come on, let's go to the man cave and talk to Ray. We'll find her Henry."

* * *

Dun Dun Dun! Where is Charlotte? And props to Henry for admitting his feelings. You go Henry! Drop a review if you could, please!


	4. Chapter 4

"Come on Schwoz, there's nothing that you can use to find her location?" Henry asked as he stood over the older man's shoulder. Schwoz was sitting at the computer trying to locate Charlotte's location after she had been kidnapped from the school dance by Jeff and Shelby. She had been gone for over 2 hours.

"I'm doing all I can Henry. If she had her phone it would have been easier, so it might take me a bit longer." They had tracked her phone to just outside of the school. Jeff must have taken it from her and chucked it, knowing that they would use it to track her. Schwoz was currently trying to tap into all of the security cameras he could to see a path of the car Jeff drove away in. So far he had only made it a few miles. "Besides, it's not like we microchipped her or something and can just easily look up her location at any second."

Henry sighed. "Yeah well when we get her back, maybe we should think about doing just that."

"Henry! You're overreacting a bit. Just calm down man." Jasper tried to reason with his friend. "We'll find her okay, you just need to relax."

"I can't relax! This is the second time that someone has taken Charlotte because of me."

Ray stood up from his position on the couch. "How did Shelby even know who you are?"

"I'm not sure. I can assure you I didn't tell her anything that could give it away."

"I trust that Henry. It's not your fault. Let's just focus on getting her back."

"Wait!" Jasper interrupted. "It's going on 11pm, her parents are going to be expecting her home soon."

Henry sighed. "Well I'm not proud of it, but I used Charlotte's phone and the voice modifier and called her mom. I told her that you and Charlotte were coming over to my house after the dance, and asked if it was okay if she stayed over for the night? Her mom said it was okay. Thank goodness she likes me and you enough to trust us with her."

"She might not once she finds out you have feelings for her daughter." Jasper chuckled.

"So let me get this straight." Ray said. "You used Charlotte's phone and her voice, and told her mother she was staying at your house tonight?"

"Yeah. I figure let's not involve her parents unless it gets more serious. No need to worry them."

"Probably for the best because we are getting her back soon." Ray clapped his hand on Henry's shoulder. "I promise."

Jasper took a seat on the couch in front of the two. "So while Schwoz is tracking her down, tell us how it happened."

Henry shrugged. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you said you told Charlotte you had feelings for her at the dance. Tell us about it!"

"Yeah Henry." Ray agreed. "Tell us, tell us, tell us!"

Henry looked at his boss. "Dude. I'm gonna need you to settle down about this if I'm going to tell you."

"I'm calm."

"Okay." Henry started. "I don't really know what possessed me but I asked her to the dance the other day. She shot me down, because apparently she and Jasper were going together. Then during the dance I heard one of her favorite songs come on and I just looked at her and the words came out of my mouth to ask her to dance. And while we were dancing I may have said some nice things about her, and told her that I had feelings for her for awhile now. But then someone called me in the middle of the dance and I had to leave her inside to get kidnapped..." He glared at the older man. "So thanks Ray."

"I'm sorry, okay! I didn't know!" Ray apologized. "Did she say anything to you? You know, about her feelings?"

"There wasn't really any time before the phone call, but I told her not to say anything anyway. At least not at the moment. I just wanted her to know I suppose. I didn't want her to feel pressured to say something she thought I wanted to hear."

"I'm proud of you Henry."

"Thanks Ray. But let's just forget about it for now. All I want to focus on is getting her back."

"Guys, guys!" Schwoz screamed from the chair in front of the computer. "I think I found something." All three of the guys ran to stand right behind him while he pulled something up onto the screen. "Look here, I was able to follow the car through a series of security cameras around town. It got onto the freeway, here." Schwoz pointed to the screen.

"Okay, but after getting on the freeway we're back to square one. There's no way to know where they exit or where they end up." Henry slammed his hand on the table.

"Schwoz take an image of that car." Ray demanded. "Okay, you remember that place that Drex used to own in Baytown?"

"I think so. That one warehouse on 7th st?" Schwoz asked.

"That's the one. You would take that freeway to get there. There's a bank across the street. See if you can access the cameras facing the street." They waited a few moments for Schwoz to access the camera. "There! Is that the car?"

"It's a match!" Schwoz agreed.

Henry stepped closer. "Is this live?"

"Yeah, it's live." Schwoz confirmed. "The car is parked there at this very moment."

"Well, what if the car is there, but they took Charlotte somewhere else?" Jasper asked.

Ray shook his head. "Nah, I called Henry just over 2 hours ago at the dance which is when we can assume the kidnapping happened. It takes just about 2 hours to get to Baytown, they wouldn't have had time to stop somewhere to drop her. And if they did take her somewhere else, what's the point of going to Baytown anyway, since we know they took the car there? I think this is our best chance."

"Okay then." Henry said as he pulled out his gum. "Let's get going."

Ray stopped him. "Are you sure you can handle this kid? I can go by myself."

"Why wouldn't I go? It's Charlotte, I have to help her."

"I just don't want your emotions to impair your judgement. You know Drex, we may have to make some tough calls here."

"I can handle it. I need to go, for Charlotte. She does so much for us, and in return I can't even protect her. I owe her. I'm going." Henry looked Ray in the eyes and could see his boss was thinking.

"Okay. Alright. But you follow my lead. What I say goes, you understand me? I want to protect Charlotte too, but we need to keep our heads." Ray placed his hands on Henry's shoulders. "Understood, Kid Danger?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay then." Ray turned towards his friend sitting at the computer. "Schwoz, we'll talk to you and Jasper when we get within range of the warehouse. Keep us posted if things change."

* * *

"Schwoz, Jasper. Kid Danger and I are outside of the warehouse. Can you see us?" Captain Man asked.

"Yes. I can see you on the monitor from the bank." Schwoz answered.

"Okay. We don't see anything weird outside. Nothing in the car out front. So we're going in around the back. Keep listening."

"Will do."

Ray turned to Henry. "Okay Kid Danger. Let's go around back. There's a fire escape that we can climb. Should allow us to see into the windows, maybe see where they have Charlotte."

Henry nodded. "Okay, sounds like a plan."

Ray pulled Henry close. "Kid. I just want to prepare you. You know Drex isn't like most criminals we deal with. He's really evil, and he doesn't care about hurting her. We need to keep a level head here and deal with anything else after we have her safe."

Henry nodded. "Let's go get her."

As they climbed the fire escape they would check all of the windows. Finally after reaching the 5th floor they heard it. Drex was talking, his voice was raised, but they couldn't hear what he was saying. They looked up, and realized that the noise was probably coming from the next floor up. Carefully, they made their way to the 6th floor. They didn't want anyone to see them, not even Charlotte yet as she could accidentally give them away. Peering through the side window they saw an unfortunate scene in front of them.

"You will tell me where Captain Man and Kid Danger are located, or I will make you tell me." Drex told Charlotte as he hovered over her. She was kneeling on the floor, still in her dress from the dance, and still in her heels. Henry remembered Charlotte saying earlier in the evening that those shoes were hurting her feet. Being dragged all over the place in those heels tonight, her feet must be in serious pain. Her hands and feet were bound, just like Jaspers. Henry figured that must have been the doing of Jeff as well. Although Charlotte had no duck tape across her mouth, so she could still talk.

Ray put his finger to his mouth to remind Henry to keep quiet.

"So Charlotte, I'll ask you again. Where do Captain Man and Kid Danger have their headquarters?"

Charlotte looked at the floor and refused to answer him. Charlotte was loyal to her team. She would never give them up. No matter what Drex did to her, she would keep their secret.

"Refusing to answer me will only make it worse for you, and for Captain Man and Kid Danger when I find them.

"Do what you want, Drex. I'm not telling you a thing." Charlotte stared him down.

"Then you leave me no choice." Drex said as he pulled something out of his pocket. "I'm going to force it out of you."

Henry and Ray watched as he pulled a gun-like object out of his pocket.

"Ray, is that what I think it is?"

"Yeah. It seems to be a truth ray gun. He's going to use it on her, then ask her questions about us. Not only can we not let her give up our location, having that used on you can have some really serious side effects."

Henry sighed angrily. "I'm going in there."

"Hold on. Let me go first." Ray held the younger boy back.

Drex walked closer to Charlotte and grabbed her arms forcefully. "I'm giving you one more chance." He pulled her up off of the floor.

Charlotte looked Drex in the eyes. "I'm not going to tell you."

Drex yelled and threw Charlotte to the ground. "Tell me where Captain Man and Kid Danger are located." He pointed the truth ray at her. Charlotte would have shielded her eyes but her hands were tied together, so she just closed them and looked away.

"They're right here, Drex!" Ray had opened the window and entered the room with Henry behind him.

"Captain Man. Kid Danger. I knew there was a good chance you'd come." Drex acknowledged them.

Ray stepped forward. "Just let her go Drex. It's us you want. You don't need her now."

"I think I do. She's what brought you both all of the way here. Obviously she's very valuable to you."

Henry walked out from behind Ray. "We can make a trade. You let her go, and you can have me."

"Kid!" Ray warned.

Drex scoffed. "I'm not taking that deal. I'd rather have the information from her, and then I'll have the both of you eliminated."

Ray pushed Henry back. "She's not a part of this Drex, neither is the Kid. It's me that you have beef with, and if you want to settle it we can settle it. The two of us, not them."

Drex walked closer to Ray and got right up in his face. Henry was able to sidestep out of Drex's vision. Ray never moved a muscle and kept his face stern while looking Drex in the eyes. "Captain Man. The two of us will never settle a thing. Ever. So if you don't mind, I'll be getting back to what I was doing.

As Drex turned around, he wasn't prepared for Charlotte, still on the ground and hands still bound but in front of her, holding up the stun gun. "No you won't." Charlotte pulled the trigger and allowed the stun gun to hit Drex, knocking him to the ground unconscious.

"Charlotte!" Ray said shocked. "How'd you do that?"

"Henry tossed me his stun gun when Drex got all up in your face."

Henry shrugged. "I figured he would expect it from her the least, and I figured after everything she's been through tonight she deserved to do that to him." He went to Charlotte to start removing the binds from her hands and feet. Ray made sure Drex was unconscious.

"I guess I had better wipe his memory before we go." Ray suggested.

Henry chuckled. "That might be a good idea." Removing the binds from Charlottes hands, he looked into her eyes. Placing his hand on her shoulder he asked, "Are you okay?"

Charlotte sighed. "I've been better, but I'm okay."

He pulled his best friend into a hug and she winced. "I don't believe that you are okay. Don't lie to me, Char."

"Okay. I'm not in the best shape right now, but I'm okay. I promise I will be fine." Charlotte reassured him.

"I'll take a tally of your injuries on the way home."

"I'm more than ready to get out of here." Charlotte turned to the older man in the room. "You ready to go Ray?"

"Yeah I think so." Ray finished up with Drex. "I was able to reset his memory and I deactivated a lot of his gear and tools so he can't use them. My work here is done. At least for a while." He hugged the girl lightly. "I'm sorry Charlotte."

"It's okay, Ray. I'll be alright."

"Let's get going back home. It's really late and I'm getting tired." Henry yawned.

"Oh my gosh. It's so late, my parents are going to kill me!" Charlotte placed her hands on her face.

"Actually, your parents think you are sleeping at my place. I'll fill you in on the way home."

Charlotte removed her hands. "We have a lot of things to talk about on the way home."

"Well, it's a long way home." Henry shrugged. He knew she not only meant her injuries and her sleeping arraignments, but also what was left unsaid at the dance that evening.

Charlotte proceeded to remove her shoes and place them in the trash can in the corner. "I don't care how dangerous it is, or what kind of gross stuff is on the ground outside, I am no longer wearing these shoes tonight, or ever again."

"I would pick you up and carry you, but I need my hands to get down the fire escape." Henry thought to himself for a moment. "I'll just piggyback you out of here."

"Henry, that's going to be kind of hard in this dress. It's a bit snug on my legs."

"Just hike it up a bit."

"Henry!"

"Oh come on, Charlotte. I'll have Ray go out before us, and you'll be on my back. It's not like I'm going to see anything. And it's the middle of the night, it's pitch black and there is no one out there."

Charlotte sighed. "Fine. But this is so unladylike. Turn around." She hiked up her dress as far as she needed to jump on Henry's back and wrap her legs around his waist. Ray had already exited the building.

Henry turned his head to talk to her. "Okay hold on. I'm not going to be able to hold onto you because I'm using both hands on the ladders, so don't let go."

"Trust me, Henry." She said as she wrapped her hands further around his neck. "I don't ever want to let go."

* * *

Sorry about the long wait on this one guys. Let me know what you think of this chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

Here is the last chapter! The conclusion to Uncle Someone. I'm still not really happy with it, but oh well. You guys just want to see them make it official huh? I'm not a professional writer, I just write for fun and sometimes I forget that. Hope you enjoy it.

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"So did you find out how Shelby knew who you were?" Jasper asked the blonde boy.

The two had been sitting on the couch in the man cave. It was early, as they had gotten back from rescuing Charlotte just a few hours ago. The boys had gotten in a bit of a nap, but were awake early as Schwoz and Ray had gone out to find Jeff and Shelby and wipe their memories.

"Well actually we realized Shelby didn't know who I was originally when I invited her over to my house that one night for games. But you remember her uncle, who we now know is Jeff, was picking her up just as you were walking Charlotte home. Jeff must've seen Charlotte and recognized her. He must have bribed Shelby to help him kidnap her. Jeff probably had a debt to pay to Drex and he was repaying him by bringing him a friend of Captain Man and Kid Danger." Henry munched on some snacks on the table in front of them. "He's such a spineless worm."

"Who? Drex or Jeff?"

"Both. Jeff for selling out a small defenseless girl, and Drex for what he did to her." Henry sighed. "I'll never forgive them for it."

"I'm sorry bud." Jasper clasped Henry on the shoulder. "But at least she's safe now. She still sleeping?"

Charlotte had fallen asleep pretty fast on the way home, after telling Ray and Henry what she had gone through. He had carried her into the spare room when they got back to the man cave and she had been sleeping ever since. "Yeah. I'm going to let her sleep as long as she wants to. I imagine it will be awhile until she wakes up."

"Did you guys talk about what you said at the dance?"

"Oh yeah! She had just been tied up and beaten so I asked, 'What hurts? And by the way, what are your thoughts on us trying to be more than friends?'"

"I'm sorry, I just thought maybe you guys had talked. You had been on a roll last night with romantic gestures, you know dancing with her, telling her you loved her, saving her life. I figured Charlotte would have been all over that, especially since she's liked you since we were 12."

Silence filled the room for a moment as Henry tried to process what Jasper said. "Wait a minute. Did you say Charlotte likes me? How do you know that?"

"She told me."

"And you didn't think to let a guy in on this information?!" Henry smacked his friend on the chest. "Jasper!"

"Look man, she made me promise not to say anything. I've always known that you two had a thing for each other okay, for a long time I've known. She just confirmed it to me recently. I didn't want to betray her trust."

"I get it. That's really great of you man. You're a good friend." Henry fist bumped his friend. "I hope this is okay with you, you know, me and Charlotte. Not that we are 'me and Charlotte' yet, but if we were, you would be okay with it?"

"I appreciate you asking but it's cool man." Jasper said as he stood from the couch. "Well I had better go upstairs. I've got to open the doors to the shop in about 30 minutes. You want to come up with me, forward the alarm to your watch?"

"Nah, I should stay. Just in case she wakes up or something. I don't want to leave her alone."

"That's probably best. I'll see you at lunch." Jasper entered the elevator and went upstairs to open Junk N' Stuff.

Henry leaned back against the back of the couch seat. He was pretty tired still, seeing as he had been at the dance the night before and then had been up late getting Charlotte back to the man cave. Not to mention all of the stress he was being put through. And only having a few hours sleep wasn't helping.

His emotions had been all over the place. He had been so nervous last night, dancing with Charlotte. He didn't know what possessed him into telling her how he felt. Perhaps it was the atmosphere of the evening, listening to the music. Perhaps it was how pretty he thought she looked, although he always thought she looked pretty. Or perhaps it was the fact that he couldn't stand the thought of someone else being her date, even if it was just Jasper.

And even though he was nervous telling her about his feelings, he was also sort of excited about it. He was bummed when he came back inside of the school and found out that she had left. As if she wanted to run from him in fear of what he had previously said. When he found out that wasn't the case and she had been kidnapped, his heart dropped into his stomach. He couldn't imagine anything happening to her, especially because of him.

Henry stood up and went to the computer to forward the alarm to his watch, that way he would know instantly if there was trouble in Swellview. He was going to spend the rest of the morning in the guest room with Charlotte. Even if she was sleeping, he wanted to see her.

He made sure he slipped in quietly, careful not to wake her up. He saw she was still sound asleep, however she was no longer in her dress. She was wearing a t-shirt and he assumed some form of shorts/pants covered by the blanket. Ray must have gotten them for her sometime while he was asleep. He took a seat on the bed next to her and pulled out his phone to browse through the internet. About 25 minutes had passed and he saw Charlotte begin to stir.

"Hey. It's just me here. You're okay." He wanted to reassure her since the lights were still off and he didn't want to startle her when she realized someone was sitting with her on the bed.

She sat up and looked around the room for a minute. "What time is it?"

"It's about almost 9am. You can go back to sleep if you want." He suggested to her as she laid back down against the bed.

She sighed. "Nah, it's okay. I'm not sleeping well anyway. I keep having these dreams and waking up. It's probably best I don't."

He turned on his side towards her. "Did Ray give you those clothes?"

"Yeah, I got up a while ago to get a glass of water and he thought maybe I could use something more comfortable to sleep in."

"Is that my shirt?" He asked.

"Um, I think so. You probably left it here before and he just kept it incase we needed it. Good thing too, that dress is uncomfortable to sleep in. I already had to get a piggyback ride in it. That was enough." She smiled at him.

He could see that the smile wasn't a full smile, and that concerned him. From her story last night, he knew she had been bound by the rope the whole car ride, and had been pretty roughly handled. Drex ended up leaving bruises that he could see and he was sure some that he couldn't. He didn't know who in their right mind could hit and rough up a girl, especially one as small and fragile as Charlotte. It made him physically ill, and he was glad the lights were off so he couldn't see her too clearly. "Do you need anything? Pain meds, food? I can get you whatever you want."

"No thanks. I'm alright." She stared at him for a moment. "Thank you, by the way. For everything."

"I don't deserve your thanks."

"Henry, if you start blaming yourself I'm going to be pretty mad at you."

"You should be mad at me, Char. I left you alone and got you kidnapped."

"We were at a school dance, not on some dangerous mission. We had no clue what was going to happen. I don't blame you, no one does. Besides you."

Henry sighed. "I'm going to try to move past that. It will probably get easier when I can't see the bruises anymore to remind me of what happened." When Charlotte frowned and looked away from him, he realized what he had said. "No, I didn't mean it like that. They don't even look that bad. You can barely see them. I promise."

"Thanks for reminding me that I'll be ugly for a while."

"Charlotte! That's not how I meant it."

"I know you don't. Doesn't mean I'll feel any better about them though."

"Well you know I always think you look wonderful. No matter what." He smiled at her.

There was a few moments of silence between the two of them before Charlotte spoke up. "So this whole 'becoming more than best friends' thing…is that something we should talk about?"

He shrugged. "I'm guessing you want to since you've liked me since we were 12." Henry chuckled as he watched her face change to shock.

"Oh my goodness, I'm going to kill Jasper." She sat up in the bed.

"Don't be mad at him. I've been pretty upset so I think he just figured I needed to hear something positive."

"Okay, so maybe I won't kill him. But I'll remember this when he wants me to keep his next secret." She closed her eyes. "But he's telling the truth. Since we were 12, and I never wanted you to find out."

"Why?" He questioned.

"What if you didn't like me like that? Would you really have wanted to still hang out all of the time knowing I was interested in you? To preserve our great friendship, I just sacrificed something that wasn't even a guaranteed thing. It seemed like the best option."

Henry looked at her, really looked. As much as he could at least with the lights off, although his eyes had adjusted pretty well. He wanted her to be his girlfriend so much, but after last night he realized the danger he could be putting her in. "Maybe us being together as more than friends isn't such a good thing."

"But I thought we were both on the same page here. You told me you wanted to be more, and I've wanted to be more since forever. What's wrong?"

He sighed. "Look at what happened Char. You were kidnapped and beaten because you are my friend. What would happen if people know we were more than that. They would know that you mean the world to me. I can't risk that."

"Henry. Just think about this for a second. What happened tonight, was a freak occurrence. Jeff recognized me for some reason, but Ray is making sure he and Shelby won't remember anything about me. And you guys took care of that with Drex last night. And even if we weren't seeing each other, just me being attached to 'Kid Danger' and 'Captain Man' makes me a target. You would pretty much have to stop being friends with me to ensure my safety."

"I don't like the fact that I couldn't protect you."

"Please stop blaming yourself. You may be Kid Danger and a superhero, but at the end of the day you're just a teenager. You put too much pressure on yourself to be more than that."

Henry stood up from the bed angrily. "I should put pressure on myself, at least when it comes to you and your safety." He turned towards her. She was still sitting on the bed. "I mean come on, Charlotte! Someone TOOK you and dragged you two hours from here, tied up, in a warehouse with a very dangerous man who beat you and if we hadn't of gotten there in time, could have done who knows what else to you!"

She climbed over to the side of the bed where he stood to grab his hands, but she saw him pull away and sigh. "Henry."

"I don't deserve you, Charlotte."

"Henry. Talk to me here." She got out of the bed. He noticed she was wearing pajama pants that belonged to him too. "What exactly do you think he would have done to me if you hadn't come, huh? Do you think he would have continued to beat me? Rape me? Kill me?" He wouldn't turn to meet her eyes, but she saw him shrug. Obviously this bothered him. "Listen to me. I meant what I said to him. I am loyal to you and Ray, and I don't care what he was going to do to me, I was not going to give away your secrets. When I started working here, I knew what it meant. None of this was your fault and you have to let it go. It may not be today, and it may not be tomorrow, but you can't hold onto this guilt forever."

Charlotte saw his head turn to look back at her. He sighed and took her hand. "I'm just so sorry. I care about you so much, and I feel like I let you down."

"The only way you can let me down, Henry, is by letting this affect us more than it has to. I'll be okay, I promise, and I want you to be okay." She pulled him by the hand down to sit on the bed with her. "Let's just not talk about it anymore. Let's talk about something else. Like us. Are you willing to get over yourself and try to become more than friends?"

"I really want to. We know so much about each other already, and I think we can really be good for each other. I mean look at us right now. I'm flying off the handle and you're pulling me back in."

"Well someone has to, or you'll be crazy forever."

"Oh haha, you're so funny." He rolled his eyes at her joke. "So can we make it official? You and me?"

"Yes, Henry. We can make it official. You and me." She smiled.

"Seal it with a kiss?" Henry wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"That was corny. But yes, please."

He slowly leaned forward and their lips finally met. After a few moments they separated. "That was awesome." Henry tried to keep his smile to a minimum but was having a difficult time of it. "I'm going to hug you now, but I'm going to try not to hurt you."

"It's worth it. Hug away!" She reached forward and wrapped her arms around him as he did to her. The two of them had always been the best of friends, and now, they were even more.

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Well there ya have it. Let me know what you thought of the story. Now onto focusing on my new story. If you haven't checked it out yet, it's titled Spring Break, Baby! A college aged fic. Until next time, TTFN!


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